RMP 440 Omni---no power

[phussey]

I just received the new RMP 440 Omni yesterday. I charged it overnight (all the led's to the left are blinking in a green pattern), but when I turn on the power, the status led blinks red, and then nothing. I've tried turning on the power and running RMP_ABB_Demo but it never recognizes any signal.

Thanks!

Pete Trautman

[phussey]

Hi Pete,

First you should be using the RMP_Demo_OCU to talk to the platform. Selecting the default omni configuration before running by clicking the browse button.

About the red light:

Please check and make sure the kill switch is attached and that it is not pressed. If it is not and you are still having this issue please follow these directions.

1. Turn off the RMP

2. Connect pins D and E on the 6-pin connector with a piece of wire or paperclip (see picture).

photo.JPG

3. Use the USB cable to connect the RMP to the computer. The RMP will power on.

The RMP will now be in diagnostic mode indicated by simultaneous red and green LEDs slowly flashing. Follow the instructions to extract the faultlog.

1. Open RMP_Demo_OCU
2. Select <Extract Faultlog>
3. Select the USB radio button
4. Select a directory to save the log and click OK

Once you have extracted the faultlog please post it or send it via private message and we should be able to figure out what is going on.

[trautman]

Didn't work. I first attached kill switch and that didn't do anything.

I shorted the d to e plugs and then attached usb. I only got a fast red blinking status led though. I still tried to run the faultlog extraction, and it failed.

Any ideas? No matter what configuration I have tried (no kill switch, kill switch, shorted d to e) i always get the same led message---fast blinking red status. whether or not i turn the power on or off, try things with or without charger attached...

[trautman]

OK---got the green power to come on (I hadn't undone the e-stop correctly), but now have a blinking yellow status (perhaps this was because I shorted the d and e stops?).

We still cannot get a connection over the OCU demo, and cannot extract a faultlog, although hopefully now that I figured out how to work the e-stop there shouldn't be an issue

[phussey]

The yellow status light is the visual alive signal. It should blink at about 1 Hz.

To connect to the ocu:

power the rmp on
connect usb and follow the prompts to install the driver. The driver is located in C:\Program Files\Segway\RMP_Applications\USB_Drivers\segway_rmp_cc.inf

If you run the demo with the file (you must browse to it when you run the OCU)
C:\Program Files\Segway\RMP_Applications\RMP_Demo_OCU_Application\RMP_CONFIGURATION_FILES\ocu_config_omni_default.inf
with a Logitech Extreme 3D Pro Joystick http://www.logitech.com/en-us/gaming/jo ... eme-3d-pro the demo should run.

[trautman]

Hi Patrick (?)

I'm trying to run RMP_OCU.py, which calls io_usb_cmd.py; io_usb_cmd.py calls _winreg, which I don't know how to import under ubuntu linux 12.04

Additionally, I'm concerned about the .inf driver files for windows; clearly, these won't work on an ubuntu machine (or how do they)?

I have to run the machine under linux because I'm leaning heavily on ROS which does not have a windows distro.

Thanks!

[phussey]

The centralized controller implements a USB CDC RS232 emulator driver. For Linux and MAC the CDC "driver" is built in to the OS and no additional driver or file is required. Only windows requires an inf file or equivalent.

The winreg functions in the python code just find the device in the windows registry. One could also just tell the module which comm port the device is on if you cannot search for it in Linux. If you must use USB, I would go this route (hard coding the comm port), I am not familiar enough with Linux to give much advice for finding devices in a system registry.

Based on your questions I would suggest using the ethernet interface for 2 reasons:

1. It is a much more robust interface for a real-time system
2. The python code in the demo OCU should be fully portable to Linux (io_eth_cmd.py)

Hope this helps.

[gvw]

Hi,

the python code is not "fully" portable. When I tried it on Linux, it had some problems finding some icon, I do no recall which however. After I commented out all lines referring to the icon (a lot actually), the code sort of runs. I have the impression, that the cycle of the main communication loop is slower than under windows, though. Mouse control worked, keyboard control crashed.

Given the sort of customers Segway has for these devices and their price, I would expect to get a working software for Linux in addition to windows. A C/C++ lib would also be much preferable, Python is not the right stuff for controlling comparably fast robots! A completed user manual would also be nice.

I would recommed to use windows at the beginning. You should also know (took me som time to sort this out), that you should connect the usb only AFTER the RMP is powerd on and in standby mode. Otherwise the platform will go into fault mode with quickly flashing red LED. Somewhere in the forum you find an explanation for this behavior.

Best,

Georg

[phussey]

The commercially available RMP is used for a myriad of applications utilizing a whole host of hardware/OS/RTOS to interface. As such, the python code was not intended to be fully portable or a final solution for controlling the platform. It is provided as a very basic example of how to interface with the platform, and was written in python to serve as a more easily understood example for a larger audience with varying levels of software competency.

What I think you completely missed with my comment is that portions of the code are fully portable and if you're using some canned development platform like ROS you can use those modules (ie ethernet comm and the interface file). Granted it does require a little understanding on the customer's part, but should not involve much work and has been done by other customers.

A complete user manual should be available within the next few weeks. A C/C++ API is on the list for future improvements, but has not been pushed by enough customers to justify the development yet.

For customers requiring custom integration, a custom OCU with specific functionality (ie. sensors, cameras, actuators etc), or any other type of custom development; Segway may be able to provide robust fully developed solutions at a cost. Please contact customer support for details.

http://rmp.segway.com/contact/

[trautman]

Hi Patrick:

I've been charging the batteries for about 5 hours now and both "front" LEDs are red. Also, when i try to power on the machine, the status blinks yellow for about 5 seconds and then blinks red really fast.

Also, I got RMP_OCU.py to run, and I selected all the defaults to create the ocu*.inf file (for ethernet).

When I run that OCU over ethernet, I get this error (which is probably related to the red battery lights):

Also, I'd send along the generated OCU file but I can't seem to find where its saved?

trautman@generallee:~/Desktop/segway_update/Segway/RMP_Applications/RMP_Demo_OCU_Source_Code$ python RMP_OCU.py
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "RMP_OCU.py", line 54, in <module>
menu_opts.Main_Menu();
File "/home/trautman/Desktop/segway_update/Segway/RMP_Applications/RMP_Demo_OCU_Source_Code/main_ocu_menu.py", line 107, in Main_Menu
self.Create_OCU_Config(self.main_entry_menu.configuration_file_path);
File "/home/trautman/Desktop/segway_update/Segway/RMP_Applications/RMP_Demo_OCU_Source_Code/main_ocu_menu.py", line 322, in Create_OCU_Config
good_config_file = self.Load_OCU_Config(path,True);
File "/home/trautman/Desktop/segway_update/Segway/RMP_Applications/RMP_Demo_OCU_Source_Code/main_ocu_menu.py", line 260, in Load_OCU_Config
temp = dottedQuadToNum(upload_configs[idx]);
File "/home/trautman/Desktop/segway_update/Segway/RMP_Applications/RMP_Demo_OCU_Source_Code/utils.py", line 224, in dottedQuadToNum
return struct.unpack('L',socket.inet_aton(ip))[0]
struct.error: unpack requires a string argument of length 8

[Andrew]

Hi Pete,

Regarding your battery issue, my first suggestion is to check the front UI-powerbase wiring harness. Ensure that it is properly tightened, and then check for any damage that may have occurred to the connector. If the connector looks ok and the lights remain red, try swapping the positions of the front and rear wiring harnesses. If there is an issue with the harness, the red lights should remain in the front position.

If, however, after swapping positions of the harnesses, the red lights change position, there is likely an issue with the batteries themselves. Return the wiring harnesses to their original position and remove both batteries from the front powerbase. Reseat the battery packs and torque the fasteners to 1.6NM. Once again, plug the RMP in to charge and observe the battery indicator lights. If they remain red in the front position, remove all four powerbase batteries. Install the original front batteries on the rear powerbase, and the rear batteries on the front powerbase. Plug the machine back in to charge. If the red lights now appear in the rear position, there is very likely an issue with the battery packs. Try replacing them with new or known-good packs. If the red lights remain in the front position, there may be a problem with the charging electronics.

If you have any questions, or if I was unclear, please feel free to give me a call at 603-222-6309.

Thanks,
Andrew Fuller
Segway Service

[phussey]

To add to Andrew's reply below, If the charger is plugged into the machine when you power it on and the DISABLE_AC_PRESENT_CSI bit is not set in the configuration bitmap the machine will fault (due to the charger being plugged in). This feature is to prevent a user from commanding motion while connected to the wall, and is configurable if the user wishes to disable it.

If you continue to have issues please visit:

http://rmp.segway.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=80

This walks you through extracting the faultlog with a non-ocu program designed to allow users to pull the log without the OCU.

[sdnalloh]

trautman,

Patrick has ported the Demo OCU to linux. It hasn't undergone much testing yet, but should work on Ubuntu 12.04. http://rmp.segway.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=83

Please keep us informed with your progress on getting the RMP to work with ROS. The work you do may be helpful to others in the community.